Current-collecting device



Patented Sept. 23, 1924.

PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL S. MATTHES, 0F MANSFIELD, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO TI-IE OHIO BRASSCOMPANY, 0F MANSFIELD, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF NEV JERSEY.

CURRENT-COLLECTING DEVICE.

Application filed November To all @07mm t may concern.'

Be it known that I, SAMUEL S. MATrHns, a citizen ot the United States otAmerica, residing at il/Ianslield, in the county ot Itichland and Stateot Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCurrentCollecting- Devices, ot which the following is a specilication.

My invention relates to current collecting devices rand moreparticularly to that class ot' collectors used with trolley busses whichtravel to either side ot the center line ot the trolley wires ordirectly in line therewith.

The object of my invention is a device which is cheap, simple andelicient tor collecting current from two conductors ot diterentpolarities at the same time permitting the' bus to swing to either sideot the trolley wires.

Another object is to produce a device which will operate steadily andwill not nose when one collector encounters an ob struction suoli as lasupporting ear or splicer as is` the case it the collector head sets atright angles relatively to the two wires. Wlhen the head is positioneddiagonally to the trolley wires, the wires tend to maintain a parallelposition and any attempt for one collector to nose ahead ot' its normalposition when it strikes an obstruction in the wire 'and thus set up avibrating` action ot the whole head is obviated. y

Another object of my invention is to produce a device which willautomatically take care ot a variation in the spread or spacing ot thetrolley wires.

Another object is to provide means to prevent the collector head fromcatchingy on the overhead, should the collector leave the wire.

My invention resides in the construction, combination and arrangement otparts more tully hereinafter set forth.

In the drawings accompanying this specilication Ilig. 1 is a top plan`view ot my invention. Fig. f3 is a side elevation view of my invention.

In the preferred torni herein shown, I ein ploy a pole 1, secured at itslower end to a bus, in the usual manner oit devices ot this nature, by abase exerting an upward spring pressure on the pole. 'llo the upper endof 18, 1921. Serial No. 516,034.

the pole I secure a support member 2 having a socket 3 to receive thepole and a socket 4 to receive a yoke member 5 in pivotal relationthereto and secured in position by the nuts 6 on the lower end ot theyoke memloer 5.

Pivotally mounted on the yoke member by means ot the pin 7 is a head 8formed ot insulating material. Secured to each end ot thehead 8 is acollector support member 9 held in position by the bolts or pins 10.rIlie collector support is provided with arms 11 between which isrotatably mounted a current collector wheel 12 on the pin 13. The lengthot the head 8 and the angular position ot the collector 12 on the head 8are suoli that the head 8 is compelled to take a diagonal position withrespect to the wires, and the tendency of the wires to maintain a fixeddistance therebetween tends to maintain this diagonal relation.

In order to prevent the head from readily catching in the overheadconstruction, should one or both collectors leave the wires, I providethe members 14 preferably of insulating material and secured to themembers 9 at their upper edge, and in order to maintain them in positionat their lower end and permit the members 1 and 8 to pivot relatively toeach other, I place a sheave 15 as shown and secured to the pole 1 bythe member 16 and pass around the sheave 15 a flexible member 17 securedto the members 14. The members 111 as described will prevent thecollectors 12 from becoming` caught above the trolley wire.

To each member 9 is a socket 18 adapted to receive a conductor by meansot which the current is led from the collector to the trol* leybus.

The construction ot my device is such that in the operation, the`trolley bus is permitted to travel directly below the trolley wires inline therewith or to swing to either side of the wires and travelparallel therewith. The distance between the collectors 1Q along' theaxis ot the head 8 being greater' than the perpendicular distancebetween the wires, the head will take a diagonal position relatively tothe wires and any tendency tor the head to change this normal diagonalrelation will be counteracted by the resultant forces acting on thewires to maintain them 111 their normal position. This diagonal relationof the head to the wires will prevent the head from see-sawing aboutitspivot point at 4, which it is found todo if the distance betweenmembers l2 is equal to the distance between the wires` in which case notsee-sawing of the: head is the result but severe swinging of the wiresis set up and the head thrown from the wires.

The head also operates to accommodate itself to any reasonableinequalities in the spacing of the wires or variation in their height.

Various modifications may be made from the disclosure herein shown anddescribed but still falling within the scope of my invention.

l. A current collector for gathering curi rent from two adjacentconductors comprising' a support, a member secured to the end of thesupport, a member pivotally mounted on the irst said member, an insulated member pivotally mounted on thesecond said member, ai `supportmember secured -toeach end of the insulated member, a current collectingmember secured to each'last named support member to engage theconductors, and means so associated with ay plurality oi the supports asto lprevent the device catchingon the conductors.

2. A 'current collector for gathering cui'- rent fromi two adjacentconductors comprising a support, a member secured to the support, amember mounted on the irst said member, an insulated member mounted onthe last said member, a support member secured to eachA end of theinsulated member, a current collector mounted on each last named supportto engage the conductors and means associated with the first saidsupport to prevent the device catching on the conductors.

' 3. A current collector for gathering current from two adjacentconductors comprising a support, a member secured to the support, a.member mounted on the first said member, an insulated member mounted onthe last vsaid member, a support member secured to each end of theinsulated pendicular distance between the conductors, means to permitthe collecting members to pivot relatively to the support in asubstantially horizontal plane and means to permitthe collecting membersto pivot relatively to the support in a substantially vertical plane.

5. A current collector for gathering current from adjacent conductorscomprisingv a support member and a head mounted on the support member,the head provided with a plurality of current collecting members each toengage a conductor and spaced and insulated from. each other and fromthe support, the distance between the collecting' members being greater'than the normal perpendicular distance between the conductors.

6. A current collector for gathering current from adjacent conductorscomprising a support member, a plurality of current collect-ing memberseach to engage a conductor, spaced from each other and spaced andinsulated from the support, the distance between the collecting membersbeing greater than the perpendicular distance between the conductors.

7. A current collector for gathering current from adjacent conductorscomprising a support member, a plurality of current collecting memberseach to engage a conductor, spaced from each other and from the supportand mounted to pivot in a )lane substantially parallel to the plane othe conductors, the distance between the. collecting members beinggreater than the perpendicular distance between the conductors.

S. A current collector for gathering current from adjacent conductorscomprising a` support member, a plurality of current collecting memberseach to engage a. conductor, spaced from each other and the support andmounted to pivot about an axis approximately at. right angles lto theplane of the conductors, the distance between the collecting membersbeing greater than the perpendicular distance between the conductors.

9. A current collector for gathering current from zuljacent conductorscomprising a support, a plurality of current collecting member-s each toengage a conductor and means to secure the collecting members to thesupport and maintain the distance between the collecting members greaterthan the normal perpendicular distance between the conductors` the saidmeans having an axis obliquely disposed to the conductors.

l0. A current collector for gathering cui rent trom adjacent conductorscomprising u support, a plurality of current collecting nien'ibers eachto engage a conductor and mounted on the support and means to maintainthe separation of the collecting members greater than the normalseparation of the conductors and mounted to pivot about an axissubstantially parallelly and obliquely j disposed to the conductors.

ll.. The combination With a trolley pole, of a cross-head pivotallysupported thereon, a plurality oit current conductors mounted on saidcross-head, and `tiexible guard means extendingtrom spaced points on thecrosshead to a point adjacent the trolley pole and about a sheavemounted on said pole.

l2. The combination with a trolley pole, a plurality of currentcollecting means each to engage a conductor, supporting means tomaintain the collecting means in a predetermined pivotal relation to thesupport and guard means iixedly secured to the supporting means at aplurality of spaced. points and movably secured to the trolley pole topermit the supporting means to pivot.

13. The combination with a pair oi' conductors of apair oit currentcollecting .ineinbers each to engage a conductor, and oblique lydisposed means to maintain one ot the col lecting members in advance ofthe other at all times.

The combination With a current collector head provided with a supportand a plurality ot current collecting members to engage conductors, oi'means secured to the head at a plurality of spaced points and movablysecured to the support to protect the head against entanglement with theconductors.

l5. A current collector to gather current from adjacent conductorscon'iprising in combination a support member and a head mounted on thesupport and having its axis obliquely disposed to the conductors, thehead provided with a plurality or collecting members each to engage aconductor and spaced and insulated 'trom each other and mounted inpivotal relation to the support and means to maintain the collectingmembers out of perpendicular alinement With the conductors.

16. rthe combination with a current collector head provided with asupport and a plurality ot current collecting members to engageconductors ot insulated members secured to the head and the support toprotect the head against entanglement with the conductors.

17. The combination with a support of current collecting` members spacedand insulated from each other, means secured to the support to maintainthe collecting members in spaced insulated and pivotal relation to thesupport and guard means secured to the said means and to the support andcapable o'f having its length automatically changed as the relation otsaid means changes relative to the support.

18. The combination with a trolley pole, otl a cross-head pivotallysupported thereon, two current collectors mounted adjacent to oppositeends of the cross-head, and a guard arm extending from each end oit' thecrosshead to a point adjacent to the trolley pole.

19. The combination With a trolley pole, of a cross-head pivotallysupported thereon, tivo current collectors disposed at opposite sides etthe trolley pole, and a guard arm extending from each end of thecross-head to a point adjacentto the trolley pole, the guard arm beingmovable relatively to the pole.

Q0. The combination with a trolley pole, of a crosshead pivotallysupported thereon, current collectors disposed at opposite sides ot thetrolley pole, and a guard arm extending Ytrom the cross-head on eachside ot the trolley pole to the trolley pole, the guard arms beingadjustable relative to the trolley pole such that when one arm lengthensthe other shorlens as and for the purpose described.

2l. The combination with a trolley pole, et a, cross-head pivotallysupported thereon, current collectors disposed at opposite sides ot thetrolley pole, and a guard arm extending trom the cross-head on each sideot the trolley pole to the trolley pole, the guard arms beingautomatically adjustable relative to the trolley pole as the head pivotsrelative to the trolley pole.

22. T he combination With a pair of con ductors, of a pair of currentcollecting members each to engage a conductor, oblique y disposed meansto maintain one of the collecting members in advance of the other at alltimes, means to supportsaid means and guard means extending Jtrom saidfirst means to the support to prevent entanglement of the device withoverhead conductors.

ln testimony Whereotl l. ail'ix my signature.

SAMUEL S. MATTHES.

